Go, Go

I'm in a Power Rangers mood and it's awesome. So far I've written close to 2,300 words, none of which have been in any way related to any of my WiPs because they were both RP posts for my favorite role-play, which was just revived after a two month hiatus. So now I'm totally distracted from everything else in the world except rereading that RP and watching Power Ranger episodes on Youtube. I'm surprisingly okay with not writing my WiPs like I said I was, because I'm still writing and it's 2,300 words more than I've written in forever and I'm working on fleshing out one of my favorite characters with each post I write. 


So because I don't think I'm going to work on the Write Off, which is ridiculously ironic since I started it and I'll probably look like an idiot, I'll answer more questions instead.


Do You Listen to Music While You Write?
The short answer is yes, I do. I'm almost constantly listening to music, so it doesn't make sense for me not to write while listening to music. I have such an ecclectic taste in music, I can almost always find something to match a character or a scene. Take the Power Rangers roleplay for example: the two songs I listen to (and am listening to on repeat right now) are Little Lion Man by Mumford & Sons and the long, instrumental version of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers theme. I think that's the longest link I've ever typed. 


For me to listen to something when I write a piece, I have to associate the music with the character. Most of the time, I end up making playlists for characters, or giving them themesongs. I don't know why Wil's themesong has become Little Lion Man, but it has. Roulette's theme is Carnival of Rust by Poets of the Fall. The more developed a character is, the more themes they have. Lee's themes are If You Only Knew by Shinedown, Unknown Soldier by Breaking Benjamin, and Message for the Queen from the 300 Soundtrack. His brother Cam's themes are I'm Already There by Lonestar and Into the Nothing by Breaking Benjamin. 


 I also give entire projects themes. Some of the themes for Gunmetal Gray are If You're Reading This by Tim McGraw, Hold On by Julian Gallegos, Arlington by Trace Adkins, and The Greatest Tragedy from the Stop Loss soundtrack.


What are Your Favorite Genres to Read and Write?
I don't know if I have any. I love anything that has a plot that goes beyond cutout characters. I need to have characters before I need to have a plot. When I'm writing, I love to write introspection, even though I love to write and read a good action scene. The best things I've ever read can do both of those. I need the author to have developed their characters beyond whatever situation they're in. I like the useless details that never really come out in writing. Like with Wil, who's my character for my newest obsession Power Rangers role play, he hates his real name, which is Wilson. He doesn't like heights. He lost a bet with his friends that he could chug the most pop and eat the most pop rocks without puking.


I also like to put my characters through hell and back. I like it when everything goes to shit around them and they still have to function because otherwise they'll lose themselves. Maybe they already have lost themselves. As a writer and a reader,  I like being with a character on that journey. I feel like it pushes not only the characters, but the author and the readers to write/read those types of scenes.


Plus, I find that the crazier a character is (either Rorschach insane or like...Cosmo from Fairly Odd Parents insane) the more interesting they are to write.